47 nominations for Munugode by-election rejected

Hyderabad, Oct 16 (IANS) Nominations of 47 candidates have been rejected in Telangana's Munugode Assembly constituency, where the by-election is scheduled to be held on November 3.

Nomination papers of 83 candidates, including the candidates of all major parties, were found in order by the election authorities. These include 69 independents.

The returning officer rejected papers of 47 candidates after scrutiny. According to Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj, nominations of six candidates of various parties and 41 independents were rejected.

Besides the candidates of three main political parties Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress, contestants from 11 smaller parties have filed their papers.

The by-election is necessitated by the resignation of Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy, who quit Congress to join the BJP. He has filed the nomination as the BJP candidate.

The ruling TRS has fielded K. Prabhakar Reddy, who had lost to Rajagopal Reddy in the 2018 elections. Prabhakar Reddy was elected from the same constituency in 2014. The Congress party has fielded Palvai Sravanthi.

Majority of the contestants are independents. They include some unemployed students of Osmania University and those displaced by Cherlagudem reservoir.

A total of 130 nominations were filed for the by-election till October 14, which was the last date for filing the nominations. The scrutiny was taken up the next day. October 17 is the last date for withdrawal of nominations.

This is the highest number of nominations filed for the constituency in more than two decades. In 1996 a record 480 nominations were filed. Several candidates have entered the fray to draw attention to the problem of fluorosis in the constituency.